First frigid combo to thump PA this week

Kyle Gilbert, 17, waits outside for a ride home after school at CASHS on Monday, December 12, 2016. Cooler temperatures are expected in the region this week while a polar vortex is expected to hit the midwest.(Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)Buy Photo

STATE COLLEGE -- The first polar weather of the season is to wallop south-central Pennsylvania later this week.

Car batteries and pipes could fall victim to temperatures hitting the teens at night on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The wind chill is to remain in single digits during the day on Thursday when sustained 16 mph winds are expected to gust to 30 mph. Temperatures for Thursday are forecast in the low 20s.

Forecasters warn about the risk of frostbite or hypothermia to those spending time outside without proper clothing.

A wintry mix is forecast for Friday night. AccuWeather predicts an inch of snow and a skim of ice.

"In the Midwest and Northeast, some areas could experience their lowest December temperatures of this century," according to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams. The freezing mark may not be reached from Boston to Washington, D.C.

The arctic air will probably not break any low temperature records. Most places have set only record highs during December since 2000, the start of the new century, Abrams said.

The record low temperatures for December in the region were set more than 50 years ago: minus 8 degrees in 1960 for Shippensburg and minus 13 degrees in 1942 for Hagerstown, Md.

The National Weather Service is forecasting the coldest temperatures of the season so far with lows of 17 degrees on Wednesday, 11 degrees on Thursday and 16 degrees on Friday. High temperatures are expected to reach 22 degrees on Thursday, 23 degrees on Friday before rebounding – with a chance of snow and rain – to 39 degrees on Saturday.

Things are to warm up for Christmas. Accuweather predicts high temperatures in the mid-40s starting Dec. 22 and continuing through Dec. 26.